The Arrival - Panama City

We made a spur of the moment decision to go East instead of heading back West towards Boquete. Since we already had a rental car and were only an hour and a half outside of the big city we motored on to conquer Panama Ciudad and witness the marvel that is the Panama Canal. Upon our arrival, we realized that our entry was a bit ill timed as it was Friday rush hour. To be sure, the road rules aren't as obvious as they are in the States and we had no idea of where we were OR where we were going.

After bumbling through different areas of the city for an hour and a half, thankfully avoiding any accidents (good job Captain Randy), we were both nail bitten and frazzled. We decided to find ANY hotel, just to be off the streets. One of the first places we cased turned out to be a "by the hour" joint. We gathered this after observing the young, rotund chica pawing at the much older muchacho at her side, all the while flaunting her "goods" under the blue bra not even remotely covered by her cheetah dress. As the muchacho's hands fumbled for the money to pay the desk clerk, it was obvious he was in a hurry to get going on the "big game" he'd found on his afternoon's safari. Needless to say, we passed on that particular venue.

We found lodging at the Executive Hotel and ordered up a tasty Pizza Hut pizza-aren't we adventurous?-and watched from our balcony as a mystical sunset brought on the night.